“Bad Boys For Life” tops North American box office for second straight weekend

   LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27 -- Sony's action comedy "Bad Boys For Life" easily repeated as the winner of the North American box office with a solid 34 million U.S. dollars during its second weekend of release, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.
   The film, with a reported production budget of 90 million dollars, has grossed 120.64 million dollars in North America through Sunday for a global total of 215 million dollars. It's on track to pass 2003's "Bad Boys 2," which collected 273.3 million dollars worldwide, in coming days.
   "Bad Boys for Life" is the third installment in the hugely successful Bad Boys franchise, the sequel to "Bad Boys 2" and 1995's "Bad Boys." Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the film stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their roles as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett as they are back together for one last ride.
   "Bad Boys For Life" receives a positive "A" rating from moviegoers on CinemaScore and holds an approval rating of 77 percent on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes to date.
   Universal's World War I epic "1917" came in second with 15.8 million dollars in its fifth weekend. Fueled by its strong performance in this Hollywood awards season, the film has grossed 103.9 million dollars in North America for a global cume of 200.5 million dollars.
   Directed and co-written by Sam Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of "American Beauty" and James Bond film "Skyfall," the film chronicles the story of two young British soldiers during World War I who are given a seemingly impossible mission, racing against time to cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on 1,600 soldiers.
   "1917" received 10 nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards. It won Golden Globes' best drama and best director earlier this month. Mendes also won the top prize at the 72nd annual Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday and tied for best director with South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho at the 25th Critics' Choice Awards on January 12.
   In third place, Universal's fantasy adventure film "Dolittle" earned 12.5 million dollars in its second weekend through Sunday for a North American total of 44.7 million dollars.
   Directed by Stephen Gaghan and starring Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, the film is a reboot of the Doctor Dolittle films. The plot follows the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle, a famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria's England, who is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure for Queen Victoria, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and encounters wondrous creatures.
   STX Entertainment's action comedy film "The Gentlemen" opened in fourth place with 11.03 million dollars this weekend. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the film follows an American expat who built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he's looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.
    Sony's fantasy adventure comedy film "Jumanji: The Next Level" finished fifth with 7.9 million dollars, pushing its North American cume to 283.44 million dollars.
    Directed by Jake Kasdan and based on the book "Jumanji" by Chris Van Allsburg, the film is the second sequel to "Jumanji" in 1995, following "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" in 2017. In the latest follow-up, starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, the players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world's most dangerous game.  Xinhua